In the preparation of diced foodstuffs and particles of non-food stuffs, there is desire to have the particles frozen into individual moieties or particles in order to have a frozen free-flowing product. Devices such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,989,416 have been found to be satisfactory when freezing small individual particles that are essentially dry or in other words devoid of surface moisture.
The problem with trying to freeze individual particles that contain moisture on the surface is that when the particles are exposed to conventional freezing techniques such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,989,416 the frozen particles tend to clump or stick together. This is true for a host of food products from vegetables such as carrots and celery to seafood products such as clams and scallops, to grain products such as rice and noodles.
In prior art devices after the freezing was accomplished, the particles would be subjected to a cluster buster in the form of a centrifugal wheel which is used break apart the clusters. Unfortunately, at the same time the clusters were destroyed, the product itself was subject to breakage and therefore the overall product was damaged and not attractive for the consumer.